Pakistan Muslim League- Quaid (PML-Q) leader Moonis Elahi took to Twitter on January 7 to inform his followers that friend was kidnapped by two Vigo pick up trucks in Lahore.
Moonis further wrote that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is swearing that it is not involved in any way.
کل میرے ایک دوست کو 2 کالے ویگو میں کچھ لوگوں نے لاہور میں اٹھا لیا۔ ایف آئی اے والے قسمیں کھاتے ہیں ہم نے نہیں اٹھایا ۔اب کچھ دن بعد اچانک ایف آئی اے کو پہنچا دیا جائے گا اور ان کو مجبور کیا جائے گا پرچہ دو ۔ آپ لوگوں کو سمجھ نہیں آتی کہ ہم نے پی ڈی ایم کے ساتھ نہیں ملنا۔ pic.twitter.com/HLSed9FkSn
“Now after a few days suddenly the FIA will be delivered and they will be forced to register an First Information Report (FIR),” tweeted Moonis.
Moonis Elahi, the son of Punjab’s Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, is considered to be quite close to Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), PML-Q’s collation partner in the Punjab government.
The United Nations has condemned the attack on a police van guarding polio workers in Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. “It’s not the first time that we’ve seen attacks on health workers; It’s not the first time we’ve seen attacks on people trying to do polio vaccination in Pakistan and other places in the world,” UN Secretary-General’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric said.
He added, “Sometimes we’re faced with a situation where you really run out of words, but it is despicable to target and attack people who are going out in communities in extremely challenging circumstances, trying to protect the lives of infants and babies from a preventable disease that is almost wiped out; except for a handful of countries, and that all too often is due to a security situation where people actively work against health workers.”
Terrorists opened fire on five police officers on Thursday who were guarding polio workers in Dera Ismail Khan, injuring all of them. As per the details, the incident happened on Thursday afternoon. The policemen were shifted to a local hospital for treatment.
Pakistani banks have announced that they will settle debit and credit card transactions made with foreign retailers and websites at the open market exchange rate for the US dollar.
The conversion rate for the transactions would be calculated by the open market rate in place at the time, which might not match the rate listed on the foreign merchant’s website.
Customers were advised by the banks in a statement that they could only settle debit or credit card purchases with foreign retailers or websites by buying dollars on the open market. As a result, the conversion rate for these transactions will be determined by the current open market rate.
The statement, according to bankers, was made in response to several client concerns over the increased exchange rate.
On Friday, the Pakistani rupee lost Rs0.02 to the US dollar in the interbank market, continuing its downward trajectory.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported that the exchange rate of the local currency for the dollar was Rs227.12. Which shows a 0.01 per cent decline from the close of Rs227.12 on Thursday.
According to SBP, the Pakistani rupee is valued at Rs227–228 against the dollar. However, in the open market, the greenback is priced above Rs250 and goes as high as Rs275.
A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will visit Pakistan in two to three days to “undertake and complete” the key ninth review, according to Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif.
PM Shehbaz said that he spoke to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and stressed that Pakistan will complete the IMF bailout programme.
“I told her to ease the terms of the deal because I cannot burden the common man any further. We have imposed taxes on the rich strata of the society. I requested her to send a delegation for the ninth review and she replied that a team will visit Pakistan in 2-3 days.”
“After inquiring about Pakistan’s relations with China and Saudi Arabia, she also told me that China had urged IMF to support Pakistan,” he said.
The IMF programme is currently stalled, with experts suggesting that the government is reluctant to implement some of the lender’s conditions over their effect on political capital in a year when elections are scheduled to take place.
PM Shehbaz said that Pakistan was trying to mend its ties with friendly countries as well. “We should appreciate friendly countries for supporting Pakistan over the past few years but the previous government slapped allegations of corruption on Chinese firms and jeopardised the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).”
He stated that the former leadership “had angered friendly nations”, adding that the contribution of Saudi Arabia, UAE and China to Pakistan’s economy is priceless.
Pakistan needs the IMF programme to restart due to its declining rupee, shrinking reserves, and worse macroeconomic indices.
The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange holdings dropped by another $245 million on Thursday, down to a critically low level of $5.58 billion. Since April 2014, SBP-held reserves have never been this low.
At the same time, the government has also been unable in obtaining crucial support from allies.
The challenge has left Pakistani authorities scurrying to set up foreign exchange amid increased concerns over the country’s capacity to pay its debts and fund imports.
Additionally, there are market rumours that Pakistan could possibly default, but the Pakistani government is still confident that Saudi Arabia would provide essential assistance for the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA), has cautioned on Friday that a scarcity of feed could cause the price of chicken, a staple food, to rise to Rs1,000 per kilogramme in the near future.
While talking to Aaj News, Ashraf said that around a dozen containers carrying 0.75 million tons of soybean and canola are also stuck at the port. “In the poultry industry, we can stock supply for 15 days or a month. This has been consumed. We do not have soybean available anymore,” said the official.
“If the two items are not available, this creates problems for feed makers who have already told the farmers that they do not have the product available,” he said. Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research (MoFS&R) Tariq Bashir Cheema earlier advised people to stop eating chicken.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Cheema said that non genetically modified organisms (GMO) oilseeds would be imported into Pakistan from now on. The minister continued by stating that since chicken is being fed diets produced from GMO oilseeds, people should cease eating it because it is unhealthy. He claimed that GMO soybeans are dangerous and might cause cancer and other ailments.
A drunk male passenger in business class on an Air India flight from New York to Delhi allegedly unzipped his pants and urinated on a female co-passenger, earning a ban from the airline for 30 days.
The incident took place in late November, however, the airline took notice on Wednesday after the woman wrote to the group chairman of Air India, N Chandrasekaran. She described the episode as the “most traumatic flight I have ever experienced”.
According to the female passenger who is in her 70s, after urinating, the man allegedly kept exposing himself and didn’t move until another passenger asked him to return to his seat.
The woman complained to the crew and told them her clothes, shoes, and bag were soaked in urine. The crew allegedly gave her a set of pajamas and slippers and told her to return to her seat which was covered in sheets but still reeked of urine
The airline has also filed a police complaint against the man and constituted an internal committee to investigate the matter.
Bollywood film Pathaan starring Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan, and John Abraham, is nearing its release, and before that, it has already gotten itself in a pool of trouble now the last jibe has been taken by the Censor Board as they have asked for more than ten cuts in the film. The film has been directed by Siddharth Anand and is helmed under the banner of Yash Raj Productions. But with time, instead of the problems getting resolved, things are becoming harder for the makers.
When the first song of the film, Besharam Rang, came out things started to go down south, people protested against the film, especially Deepika’s outfit from that song. And now, when the film is all set to release, there have been reports of several changes had been suggested by the board.
According to a report in ETimes, the Censor Board has asked for more than ten cuts in Pathaan, including the song Besharam Rang. The makers have been asked to make changes in dialogues and shots. As per reports, some of the changes are the word ‘RAW’ has been replaced with ‘Hamare’, ‘Langde Lulle’ by ‘Toote Foote’, then ‘PM’ has been replaced by ‘President or Minister’, and not just that the term ‘PMO’ was replaced in 13 places.
As the report stated, the ‘Ashok Chakra’ got replaced by ‘Veer Purashkar’, ‘ex-KGB’ with ‘ex-SBU’, ‘Mrs Bharatmata’ by ‘Hamari Bharatmata’, and ‘Scotch’ by ‘drink’. Then there was a text, ‘Black Prison, Russia’, which got replaced by ‘Black Prison’ only, and not to forget the song, several shots have been asked to remove from it as well. As per the report, the closeup shots of b*tts, ‘side pose’ [partial nudity] and the visuals of the steamy dance movements were also replaced with ‘suitable shots’ [during the lyrics ‘Bahut Tang Kiya’ in the song Besharam Rang]. Although, there has been no mention of Deepika Padukone’s ‘saffron bikini’ getting censored from the song.
The song Besharam Rang (roughly translates to shameless colour) from the upcoming Shah Rukh Khan movie ‘Pathaan’ has garnered controversy since its release. Now India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has advised the makers of the film to implement changes to the song. Since the song’s release, costumes worn in the music video have been the subject of criticism, with certain Hindu clerics stating that the lyrics are an insult to their religion.
Narottam Mishra, a minister from the state of Madhya Pradesh, held a press conference on December 14 about the costumes in the music video, calling them insulting to Hindu practices, and warned the makers of the movie that ‘Pathaan’ would be banned in the state on its release. ‘Pathaan’ was submitted by Yash Raj Film to the CBFC for certification prior to being shown in cinemas. On Thursday, the chairman Prasoon Joshi released a statement requesting the makers to implement changes in the song ‘Besharam Rang’ to prevent controversy. The full statement read:
Actor Bilal Abbas candidly opened up with Fuchsia Magazine about his experience of falling in love. He said, “So far I am not seeing anyone but I do believe in love, I do believe in marriage but I think if something has to happen it eventually happens, I don’t know why I am fumbling, I am getting confused while talking about love but it will happen when it is meant to be. Also, I will deal with such a situation despite my confusion.
The Dobara star elaborated on the concept of a soul mate, Bilal said, “I do believe in asoul mate, for me, love is about honesty, respect, loyalty, companionship, and mutual admiration with each other, if you claim that you love someone then these essentials are important, if there is nothing like that then you are just talking with each other and not in love, currently, I am not seeing anyone.
Last year the Dunk star got candid about his co-stars Sajal Aly, Yumna Zaidi, Sarah Khan, and Hadiqa Kiani.
Actor Mansha Pasha recently spoke about her first marriage in an interview. Pasha stated on Momina’s Mixed Plate, “Yes I was married before but I don’t speak much about it, yes, he was from industry, probably more behind the camera. I mean, I think a lot of people have the feeling that if their marriage doesn’t work they still think that it is the only thing in life, it’s not like that, marriage is the union of two people who are in it, it can’t be defined, it’s different, it’s not same I can’t do comparisons. The two people in a relationship are different and they can’t be compared.”
“Definitely divorce is a last resort, sometimes people go into marriage without any idea, sometimes they just get into a relationship without any thought process, no one marries to take a divorce. I got married quite young, in our society people married at a young age, so my personality wasn’t developed and I’m taking up a relationship, in most marriages, you are not mature enough to handle things, if you two are different, then you should take a chance to move on, also I believe that you are not marrying a person but you are marrying a family, it’s a desi statement but I agree to it,” she concluded.
The Zindagi Gulzar Hai star is currently married to activist Jibran Nasir.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has given instructions that if his desired dissolution of the Punjab Assembly (PA) is halted, all of his party’s Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs) will resign, reports Geo News.
According to news outlet sources, PTI has prepared a new strategy to deal with the political crisis in Punjab.
Khan has also directed all party members to ensure the trust vote for Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi.
Earlier, a session of the Punjab Assembly was called on January 11, but later the date was changed to January 9.
While it seems like PTI is gearing up for the no-confidence motion, on the contrary, Khan-backed CM Elahi said that he will not take orders from Punjab Governor Muhammad Baligur Rehman, hence he will not take a vote of confidence.
